IPAA 2019 – New Speaker Announcement – Theory and Practice of Balint Groups

We are pleased to announce an addition to the Balint Groups part of IPAA 2019.

Christine Christie will join us from Belfast to present a paper on Michael and Enid Balint, their lives, their work and the Theory and Practice of Balint Groups.

Christine is an ICP Registered Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, Group Analyst and Supervisor and has been in private practice in Belfast for 30 years with a Klein/Bion orientation.

With colleague Dr Glenda Mock – a local GP with Group Analytic training, she has been running groups in Belfast for quite a while. They have also been running Balint weekend conferences in Belfast and have conducted groups at weekends in Sligo and Oxford. She has supervised Balint workers in the NHS for a number of years. She would also have a keen interest in the psychoanalytic work of Michael and Enid Balint.

With the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board recently announced Statutory Registration of our profession comes one step closer. Balint Groups have been operating in the Health Service in the U.K. and beyond and are a well-established multi-disciplinary practice.

This presentation will give attendees an opportunity to learn about Balint Groups in an experiential way. We are very pleased to add Christine to the Programme.

Register here

Dept of Health to agree new protections for competence standards via Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board

IPAA will be represented on the newly established Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board, under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 by ICP CEO Jean Manahan.

The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board will seek to protect the public by fostering high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence amongst counsellors and psychotherapists.

The Board will also advise the Dept. of Health on the professional titles which should be protected.

Health Minister Harris said “It is absolutely vital that users can have confidence in the service they receive. We have seen the impact of rogue operations in undermining faith in the profession. It is absolutely vital this area is regulated to ensure adequate supervision of the profession and to ensure its users are protected.”

The Health and Social Care Professionals Council (CORU) will arrange for the first meeting of the Board in the coming months.

The Board will then begin the substantial body of work which must be undertaken before it is in a position to open its registers.

It is envisaged that this process will take a minimum of two years to complete.

When the Board has opened the registers and the transitional period to allow existing practitioners to register is completed, a person who does not meet the standards necessary will not be able to register with CORU.

It will be an offense, punishable by a class A fine or imprisonment of up to six months, for a person not registered to use any of the titles protected, such as ‘counsellor’ or ‘psychotherapist’.